


Family

by GoofyGomez



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Angst, Dellie or Ellina for their ship?, F/F, I just want them to be happy, Spoilers, Story Continuation, TLOU2, time skip, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:53:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24991102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoofyGomez/pseuds/GoofyGomez
Summary: Set seven years after the events of The Last of Us Part II, Ellie must confront her past in the most unlikely way.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 425





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE WARNING THAT THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR TLOU2 (obviously)

Ellie hated Clickers.

Even twenty-seven years after living in this godforsaken world, one of the scariest things she could think of was a Clicker. Their bat-like senses alerting them of every slight movement, the rattling sound they gave off that told you trouble was brewing. It was enough to make her skin crawl. Over the years, she had developed systems to keep her cabin safe from infected or otherwise, but every now and then, a few stragglers would wander into her vicinity. Today was one of those days. She could hear the unmistakable clicking noise coming from somewhere within the forest.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder and stepped out of the back door into the wilderness. For seven years, this had been her home. Secluded in the middle of a dense, overgrown forest, it was the best location she could have chosen to be completely isolated from the world. Trails leading up to the cabin had been blocked or simply dissipated with time, so Ellie was the only person capable of traversing the woods around her easily.

The afternoon sun shone over her, the tops of trees cast odd shadows on the ground. Heaving a sigh, Ellie ventured into her usual route toward the traps, looking over her shoulder at the cabin. It was a small thing, big enough to house a bedroom and a semblance of a kitchen. She hunted most of her food, so there wasn’t much else she needed anyway.

A gentle breeze blew past her from her left, making her shiver. She pulled her jacket closer to her. Winter was rapidly approaching. Tommy, who was the only person from Jackson who even knew about her whereabouts – and even then, only by accident – would be passing through soon to provide her with canned goods she might need during hibernation season.

“Hope you bring some beans,” she mumbled to herself, longing a nice hot plate of them.

She followed the clicking noise to her right, weaving through large pine trees and walking straight into a small clearing, where the sun shone freely over the barren ground. In the middle of it hung three writhing bodies from ropes tied to the higher branches, their screeches and groans permeating the otherwise peaceful atmosphere of the forest.

It was two Runners, one of whom had seemingly given up the struggle, and a very angry Clicker. One of the Runners spotted her and tried to claw at her, yelling at the top of his lungs while his companion barely reacted. The Clicker had become oddly silent when Ellie came into the clearing, moving its head around in search of prey. Sighing, she walked over to the Runners and easily disposed of them with her switchblade.

When the second one hit the floor, the Clicker’s head turned rapidly in her direction and began drawing its rattling breath as it attempted to locate her. It emitted a high-pitched screech, which made Ellie have to cover her ears, and then lunged at her, missing her arm by inches. She walked around it slowly, making sure not to step on any dead leaves, and plunged her knife into the Clicker’s throat. It made a guttural sound as blood poured down Ellie’s arm and onto the ground.

“When will you guys go extinct?” she asked it, cleaning the blade on her jeans.

She looked around, straining her ears in case any more of them showed up. For a moment, it was all quiet. Birds chirped overhead and the leaves on the ground rustled gently with the autumn breeze. The next moment, a loud yelp coming from somewhere on her left startled her. She could hear the moaning of infected, maybe half a dozen of them, but one voice was definitely different than the rest. It was human.

Breaking into a sprint, she dodged and weaved through the trees, getting ever closer to the yelling. She came across a narrow path, one of the only ones that she hadn’t covered off. A figure was bounding its way down it toward her. It was a boy, panting and heaving breaths with wide eyes. He had a cut on his forehead and blood trickled down his face as he ran.

“Over here!” she called, waving her arms trying to get his attention. It worked. The boy’s head spun around and he spotted Ellie. Rather apprehensively, he looked over his shoulder, where Ellie could already see at least five Runners barreling toward them.

Shaking his head, the boy ran to Ellie and followed her through a different path, much thicker and less easily traversable. She looked wildly around her as they ran, searching for signs that would let her know where they were.

“They’re getting closer!” the boy said, panting heavily.

She saw it as soon as he said it. A large red cloth was wrapped around a very old, decrepit-looking tree. “This way,” she said, pulling him by the arm to the left of the tree and shoving him past a felled trunk beside it.

“In there.” She pointed to a large opening in the ground, just big enough to fit both of them. Again, he hesitated. “Hurry!” she hissed. The sounds of the infected were getting closer, their stomping footsteps like a ticking clock.

He obeyed and slid into the hole, followed closely by Ellie, who moved a large piece of bark over their heads. It was almost pitch black in the hole, where barely a single ray of sunshine penetrated, illuminating Ellie’s face. She pressed her finger to her lips, and the boy did the same, nodding. They kept quiet as the groans of the infected passed them by, their bodies tense as a particularly loud one stopped for a moment by the trunk. Eventually, the noise subsided.

“I think it’s safe,” she whispered, slowly removing the piece of bark and letting in the sun. “Yeah, come on.”

She helped the boy out of the hole and finally let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. To her left, the kid did the same, leaning against a tree as he massaged his side. He was short in stature, with shoulder-length messy black hair. His brown eyes studied her much like she did him. She had a creeping sensation he’d seen that look before, but couldn’t quite place it.

“Thanks, by the way,” he said, recovering.

“No problem,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “You should come with me; let me take a look at that cut before you head out.”

The boy pursed his lips and looked around. Everywhere they turned, foliage overwhelmed the space. She could see his apprehension, but he must have figured there wasn’t much choice, so he nodded.

“Okay, thanks,” he said.

Offering the boy a weak smile, she turned and began walking toward the cabin. She looked over her shoulder every now and then, checking the boy was following her. Despite keeping a respectable distance from her, he didn’t run away. _Probably lost,_ she thought.

The sun was beginning to wane by the time they got back to the cabin, quickly replaced by gray clouds, the last tendrils of sunlight seeping through the half-open window. She opened the door for him and he slowly walked inside, never taking his eyes off her. The blood on his forehead had dried out, a thin line stretching all the way to his chin and part of his neck.

“Here, take a seat,” she said, pointing to a small makeshift chair that had taken her the better part of her first months there to make. It wasn’t much, but it was sturdy as hell.

He sat down, breathing deeply. Ellie rummaged through a box by her bedside table and took out a bandage and some alcohol. She was running low on the latter. _Gotta ask Tommy for some if he can spare it,_ she reminded herself.

She dabbed the bandage with a few drops and rubbed it gently over the boy’s forehead. He flinched slight but otherwise kept still as she worked on the cut, taking deep breaths.

“What brings you by here?” she asked conversationally as she began wrapping the bandage around his head a few times.

“Just passing through,” he said warily. “I got lost and then those fuckers jumped me.”

“You were lucky you only got a cut on your head,” she said. “I took out a Clicker just before I found you.”

The boy shivered. “I hate Clickers.”

“Hear hear,” Ellie said with a chuckle. She looked out the window, where light rain had begun to fall. Droplets raced each other across the surface of the glass, replaced by fresh ones as the rain picked up. “You should crash here for the night, at least until the rain passes.”

“Really?” the boy said, apprehensive. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s okay,” she argued, waving a dismissive hand in the air. Despite what her survival instincts were telling her – namely that it’s a stupid idea to invite a stranger to stay the night – she couldn’t with a good conscience leave him to fend for himself in the rain.

“Thanks, I guess,” he said, suppressing a yawn.

“All done,” Ellie said tightening the bandage over his head. “That should hold until tomorrow. It’s not very deep, you might just live.”

“Gee, thanks,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“You’re very welcome,” she told him, bowing her head slightly with a smile. “Now c’mere, you can sleep in my bed.”

“Where will you sleep?” he said as she heralded him to the bed, which was really just a few planks tied together with a rather skimpy comforter and a blanket for good measure. Needless to say, winter was Ellie’s least favorite season, for more reasons than one.

“I’m not tired, don’t worry about me,” she assured him. The boy nodded his bandaged head and lay down on the bed, testing its springiness, or lack of it. “Sorry about that, I know it’s not a 5-star hotel.”

“It’s fine,” he said, offering her a rather genuine smile. “I’m not really tired either.”

But as he said that, he lay back down on Ellie’s questionable pillow and promptly closed his eyes. Barely a few minutes later, he was already snoring. She made her way back to the chair and slumped back, sighing heavily.

As the kid gently snored, Ellie picked up a book that sat on the table. She had scavenged it from some Runner’s backpack a few months ago, and she hadn’t been able to put it down since. It was about a treehouse that took these two kids on all sorts of adventures. Unfortunately, it appeared it was part of a larger series, and she had been unable to procure more than the two she’d found in that backpack. Talk about cliffhangers…

“Now I’ll never know,” she said to herself in an undertone as she flipped through the final pages.

Her eyes were getting heavy, and the sound of the rain pitter-pattering against the walls and roof was making her sleepy. She made a conscious effort to stay awake, but her exhaustion won over in the end. Right where she sat, she was plunged into a deep sleep. For a moment, it seemed quiet. Then, the inevitable happened.

Another nightmare. She was used to them by now. It was odd, though. They had been getting better and were occurring less frequently lately.

She was standing in knee-deep snow, facing the backside of a large wood mansion. The sliding glass door was ajar, its surface cracked and frosty from the cold. A warm glow came from a window on the second floor, probably from a candle. Slowly, she walked toward the door.

She opened it the rest of the way and stepped inside, grateful for the warmth that kept the biting cold from the blizzard outside at bay. She couldn’t quite place where that warmth was coming from. It seemed to emanate from the room itself. Before she could develop this theory further, she heard a scream.

Her nightmares usually went this way. Calm and beautiful until his screams pierced her ears and the mounting dread that came with them. This time, however, something didn’t sit right with her. They weren’t a man’s screams. They were a woman’s.

Frowning, Ellie rushed down rickety wooden stairs that led to a magnificent kitchen, lined with age-old appliances that must have been quite impressive back in the old world. She turned to the right and stared down the staircase that led to a white, wooden door. Beyond that door, she could hear the woman’s piercing screams, like she was being beaten and could no longer take the pain.

Apprehensively, she began the descent as the screams got louder. She picked up the pace. The stairs seemed to go on forever, the door always too far away to reach. Then she heard the woman’s voice, more clearly than before, utter one word amidst the incessant screaming.

“ELLIE!” she yelled, and Ellie knew that voice. It couldn’t be…

She ran faster, taking the steps three at a time, panting heavily by the time she got to the door. She turned the handle and burst inside, where a faceless person had pinned the woman to the ground and had their hands around her throat. Ellie looked down and her eyes went wide, panic coursing through her veins.

“Dina!” she shrieked, rushing forward and tackling the person, whose features were blurred, either because of the dream or Ellie’s tears, she couldn’t tell. She punched the faceless being once, twice, thrice. Her knuckles were bloody and sore, but she couldn’t stop. Blind rage filled her every bone as she lay into their face, now a mess of blood that covered the floor around her.

“Ellie…” she heard Dina croak out from somewhere to her right. Suddenly, the person beneath her had vanished, their only remains the blood that stuck to Ellie’s hands. “Ellie, please…”

“I’m here, I’m here,” Ellie panted, desperately crawling to Dina’s side. “Dina, it’s me.”

“Ellie,” Dina repeated, her eyes looking straight through Ellie as if she were not there. She was clutching her side, and Ellie could see why. A large gash extended across Dina’s abdomen, staining her orange blouse a deep crimson.

“No no no no,” Ellie stammered, pressing down on the wound with both hands, bloodying them even further, but to no avail. The blood kept flowing, and Dina’s face looked paler by the second. “Dina, no. You can’t die.”

“Take…” Dina breathed, shivering wildly. “Take care of…”

“Of who?” Ellie pleaded, fresh tears welling in her eyes, falling freely over Dina’s now unmoving body. “Dina? Dina!”

There was no answer. Dina’s eyes were wide open, the spark that Ellie had always loved in them gone. The smile etched on her face almost mocking her.

“Dina, c’mon,” she begged, shaking the woman softly. “Don’t do this to me, babe. Don’t do this to me…”

She sat there in the cold, damp room, clutching Dina’s body, weeping through closed eyes for a long time. It could have been minutes, or hours, or entire seasons, but all she wanted was to be there, with her. As she sobbed, her breathing became ragged and hitched. She tried opening her eyes but as she did, the image of Dina’s body dissolved, and Ellie was thrust back into pitch darkness.

Ellie woke up with a start, almost falling backwards from her chair. Feeble rays of morning sun shone through the window and onto her face, making the mixture of tears and sweat that clung to her face shimmer. She clutched her chest, attempting unsuccessfully to qualm her heart rate.

_It was just a dream, nothing more,_ she told herself. But it had felt so _real_. She could still feel the fabric from Dina’s bloody blouse in her hands, as though its ghost remained in her grip. Shaking, she clutched the side of the table and pushed herself up. Her legs almost gave way as she took one step, but stopped in her tracks when she heard a voice.

“You mumble in your sleep,” the boy said from her left. Jumping, she turned to see him sitting on her bed, cross-legged and fiddling with his thumbs, as if expectant.

“God, you almost gave me a heart attack,” she said. “How long have you been up?”

“About ten minutes,” he replied, shrugging. “You were talking pretty loudly.”

Rubbing her eyes, she groaned. “Sorry about that,” she said.

They stood in silence for a few moments while Ellie opened a can of peaches. She offered some to the boy, who gladly accepted it, munching on it as if he hadn’t eaten for days. Knowing these woods, maybe he hadn’t.

“You want a glass of water?” she asked, grabbing two metal cups.

“Sure,” he said eagerly.

“So,” she said as she turned to him and stretched her hand, “you haven’t told me your name yet.”

“Oh, it’s Jesse,” the boy said nonchalantly, taking the cup from her hand. “Everyone calls me J.J. though.”

It was as though time had frozen still, and the muscles in Ellie’s body had turned to lead. Her ears were inexplicably ringing and her mouth hung half-open. She blinked a few times. Her grip on the cup slackened and the metal container slipped onto the ground and splashed water all over her sneakers. She barely registered this as she kept staring at J.J.

“Uh, you okay?” J.J. asked timidly. She noticed the way he held his hands together, his right clutching the ring and pinky finger of the left.

She shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She did it again and only a feeble, “yeah,” came out.

“Do I… do I know you?” the boy asked, raising an eyebrow.

What a loaded question, Ellie thought bitterly. Did he know her? After all, seven years was a long time, but then again, did his mom not have any pictures of her? Had she never told J.J. about her? A surge of emotions she couldn’t even comprehend rushed through her system until she landed back on earth and blinked once more.

“No, I don’t think so,” she said, “but I know you.”

J.J. stood up. “What do you mean?”

“What are you doing here?” Ellie asked. “Shouldn’t you be with Dina?”

The boy took a step backwards, frowning. “How do you know my mom’s name?”

That question broke Ellie’s heart; not because the boy didn’t recognize her, but because Dina had clearly never mentioned her. _You did break her heart though,_ a little voice in her head said snidely. _Why would she tell her son about the woman that abandoned them?_

“I… knew her a long time ago,” she settled for, sighing. “I used to live in Jackson. Back before you were born.”

“Oh,” he said simply, almost anti-climactic. “She never told me about you. What’s your name?”

Did it even matter at this point? She wanted to desperately to jump out at him and embrace him, but that would have been weird. What was he even doing this far away from Jackson anyway? The hopeful voice in her wished he had been out there looking for her.

“Name’s Ellie,” she said simply.

“I’ve heard that name before,” J.J. said, igniting that spark in her once more. “Sometimes, my mom –”

His train of thought was cut off by a voice yelling just outside the cabin. Ellie instinctively reached for her knife in her right pocket. A shadow passed one of the windows, slowly moving toward the front of the cabin.

“Stay away from the windows,” she urged the boy. J.J. did as he was told, standing behind her. “Were you followed here?”

“I don’t think so,” he whispered. “I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving.”

“Maybe that’s the problem.”

The voice, unmistakably a woman’s, spoke again. For a moment, Ellie didn’t want to believe her ears. She definitely knew that voice. She hadn’t really heard it in seven years, but the sweet timbre of Dina’s voice still sent shivers down her spine.

“Jesse!” said Dina, desperation clearly etched in her voice. “J.J., are you here?”

Silence fell after her words, the only sound the chirping of birds in the forest. Ellie’s hands shook so hard she almost dropped the knife. Was she scared? Worried? Even she couldn’t tell. Dina’s footsteps echoed ominously on the cabin’s porch; almost eerie.

One knock. Two knocks. Three knocks. Ellie’s heart was thumping harder than ever as she reached for the doorknob with her left hand. Her missing fingers itched… somehow. Taking a deep breath, she turned it and slowly opened the door.

Dina stood on the front door, holding a revolver in her hands, cocked and ready to fire, aimed straight at Ellie. Her black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, just how she’d always loved it. Thin crow’s feet lined her eyes, which she probably found horrible, but Ellie thought she had never looked more beautiful. Her gorgeous brown eyes, so unlike the glassy ones she’d stared into in her dream, were staring back at her.

Ellie tried blinking the tears away, but they just got replaced by fresh ones.

“Dina?” she managed to croak out, shivering despite the sun hitting her square in the face.

Dina’s face was inscrutable for a moment. It was almost as though she couldn’t believe her eyes. her mouth opened and closed like she couldn’t decide what to say. She swallowed hard.

“Ellie?”


End file.
